AJAD Volume 16 Issue No. 1 June 2019

This study aims to refine the gross national happiness (GNH) development concept of Bhutan at the farm level and to show the major temporal and spatial trends in the development of rural areas with differing agroecological conditions and adoption of cattle crossbreeding. The study areas (four localities) are described as extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban. Technical, social, economic, and environmental data from 183 households in the study areas were collected in 2000, 2004, and 2015. Participatory methods were used to select from the collected data the most relevant issues and their corresponding indicators at the farm level. The issues identified during the field workshops conducted in the study areas could be grouped as social, economic, and environmental. Next, the indicators were aggregated into economic, social, and environmental indices. In 2000 and 2004, the intensive peri-urban area showed the highest performance in the economic and social indicators. Livestock farming, despite its potential for dairying, was prohibited in one of the localities in 2010 when the territorial coverage of the capital Thimpu expanded. On the other hand, the dynamics of the indicators in the other three localities indicated that the social and economic indices were highest in the intensive area, followed by the semi-intensive area, and lastly, by the extensive area. This could be because different crossbreeding techniques were implemented in these areas. In the period 2004–2015, the reference values of the social indices declined, which could be attributed to increased rural-urban migration and intensified farm labor shortages in the study areas. The environmental indices did not change much during the monitoring periods. In summary, this study presents a methodological approach for examining the GNH in Bhutan based on participatory identification of social, economic, and environmental issues and indicators along with the reference values for the selected indicators. Likewise, this study showed that an integral assessment can complement the implementation of the GNH philosophy in the rural areas of Bhutan. 

While the status quo of the national rice economy remains ambiguous, the Malaysian rice policy stand and tendency is more likely to move to a self- sufficiency strategy. Despite this, Malaysia has made an extreme policy decision to pursue an autarky economy in its primary staple, i.e., rice, thus closing its borders from international markets. The existing body of evidence shows that self-sufficiency is not an efficient policy strategy to address food security concerns and to alleviate poverty. Thus, this study evaluates and analyzes the impact of two alternative approaches to achieve food security. In particular, these approaches are through pursuing rice self-sufficiency and through free trade in rice. The results indicate that although Malaysia could achieve rice self-sufficiency, the net welfare impact on Malaysia would be negative and would be driven primarily by consumer welfare losses. This is because pursuing rice self-sufficiency may result in significantly higher rice prices, which would accordingly offset the gains acquired in producers’ welfare. On the other hand, free trade results in lower consumer prices and greater rice consumption. This would consequently increase consumers’ welfare and would yield a net welfare gain for Malaysia. However, this approach may deteriorate producer welfare due to higher import competition and lower producer prices.

The rice industry is the most important agriculture subsector in Myanmar. However, far lower profits are gained from producing rice in Myanmar compared with those gained in other rice-producing ASEAN countries. This paper analyzes the operational constraints experienced by the different actors in the rice value chain in Myanmar. Both primary and secondary data on the rice value chain in Ayeyarwaddy Region, the main rice-growing area in Myanmar, were collected. The actors in the region suffer from constraints in material input, production, financial, distributional, and institutional. This study examines the actors’ profitability, together with their sociodemographic and operational characteristics, to provide proper policy guidelines to address constraints. The analysis revealed that the value chain in the study area is structurally inefficient, characterized by a large number of actors who face numerous constraints. Diverse policy recommendations are then put forward to improve the rice value chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region. Stakeholders need to implement projects that would increase the quantity and quality of rice produced, ranging from input quality control to more efficient extension services. Credit and sufficient working capital should also be provided to make infrastructure investments possible at each stage of the value chain in order to improve production and profitability

This paper examines the importance of information exchange in achieving efficient and collaborative supply chain best practices in Vietnamese agricultural industries. The study argues that joint knowledge development can be regarded as complementary assets to leverage supply chain information exchange (SCIE) and performance. This study used a resource-based view in its analysis. It employed statistical tests on a dataset consisting of 85 agricultural businesses in Vietnam, which was collected from a sample of 600 companies. The empirical results confirmed a strong association between a manufacturing fi rm’s information exchange and its joint knowledge development. Joint knowledge development has a mediating role in the supply chain such that SCIE can be attained. Accordingly, SCIE improves supply chain satisfaction and the operational and financial outcomes of SCIE characteristics. These findings are important for agricultural businesses that have to stretch their resources to accommodate their needs in executing sustainable agricultural strategies. In the future, researchers could conduct a longitudinal study and examine how SCIE evolves. A comparison of SCIEs between developed and developing economies could likewise be a noteworthy endeavor. This study opens up new research avenues in SCIE and suggests directions for future research and practice by exploring the conditions where SCIE can help to improve the performance of socio-knowledge development in agro supply chains.

This study aimed to address the knowledge gaps on adaptive capacity of rural farming households to slow-onset hazards such as seawater intrusion. It defined household?level variables that can potentially explain adaptive capacity by using a principal component analysis and a regression model. In addition, it aimed to develop a measure-based index (MAI) to account for adaptation processes. The developed measure-based adaptation index addressed a number of shortcomings in previous studies and captured the variation in adaptation measures that rice farmers implement. The results indicated that adaptation takes place at different levels based on the propensity to adapt, the variety and diversity of adoption of various measures, the feasibility of the various measures, and the varying conditions of seawater intrusion. The research established a model of adaptation for seawater intrusion largely influenced by the rice farmers' economic capacity, which is crucial in optimizing the adaptation measures employed.

This article highlights the experiences and lessons generated by the project collaborators in enhancing the adaptive capacities of selected upland farming communities in Southeast Asia. The project collaborators employed capability building programs, such as farmers' and technicians' training, local climate change awareness programs, cross-farm visits, demonstration plots showcasing agroforestry technologies as climate change adaptation (CCA) strategies, and linking science with policies. The outcomes of the project indicate that this program was able to enhance the local adaptive capacities of the upland farming communities by building their key community assets, creating knowledge and information, initiating innovations, strengthening institutions, and initiating forward-looking decision making and governance. The lessons and experiences generated from these initiatives could serve as important reference for scaling up the project. The outputs and outcomes of the capacity development initiatives have generated lessons that could contribute to the body of knowledge in CCA, particularly on enhancing the adaptive capacities for CCA.

This study determined which knowledge sharing and learning (KSL) intervention best fits agriculture and non-agriculture students in the Philippines, and documented each of the student groups' commitments to be intermediaries to farmers. Six months after the data had been gathered through survey method, the research team documented which KSL intervention each student group shared to others. The study also determined whether the students’ expressions of commitment had been concretized into action. Samples were randomly selected from higher education institutions in the Philippines, namely, Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, Central Bicol State University of Agriculture in Camarines Sur, Father Saturnino Urios University in Agusan del Norte, and Camiguin Polytechnic State College. A total of 44 agriculture students and 59 non-agriculture students were compared. The study found that agriculture students involved themselves using their technical knowledge of information and communications technology (ICT)-based tools, whereas the other group of students employed nontechnical and practical ways to help their communities—specifically by encouraging people to save rice. Agriculture students reached more farmers than the non-agriculture students did. The results of this study could guide policymakers in developing policies that would enhance students’ involvement in agriculture.